Last night we partied! It was the second time this week we hosted a party at our house. I feel like a real party animal! The first was the youth on Sunday and then last night we had our LLYWD group from church over for soup & chili. It was a great evening. We talked about anniversaries, kids, church and other important stuff. It helped us get to know each other even more than we could during our class time together.
Yesterday was also a half day for us at school. It kicked off our fall break this week. It’s so beautiful here in Indiana. The fall weather is perfect (about 63 degrees right now) and the leaves are changing right before our eyes. I love it! I can’t imagine not seeing it after missing it my whole life. I never understood what all the hoopla was growing up in sunny south Florida about the changing leaves. Ahh, but I do now. Glorious is the best description.
Our guests loved the Turnip Green Soup……..sounds icky….but it’s not, I promise! The chili too. Cooked southern style (we don’t put any pasta in chili down yonder, ya’ll!) with cornbread on the side. I even got crazy and tried a new pumpkin dessert recipe….YUMMY! It’s a keeper!
I’ve learned some things over the years. It’s more important to make people feel welcomed and special when they visit your home than how your home looks. I’ll be honest, my house is not fancy-fied furnished! It’s filled with stuff we’ve picked up along the way. Usually from family or somewhere cheap. Ministry has a way of keeping you humble🙂 It’s more fun anyway to be comfortable with who you are than in what you’ve got! I know that the world is telling us we need stuff to be important….I’ve heard it myself. But that’s not true!
I have always loved entertaining. It’s in my blood and now it’s in my kids. They love having a house full of friends every chance they can. If I could give any advice here it would be just do it! Don’t wait till you have the perfect sofa or dining table to have friends over. Don’t skip inviting someone home for lunch on Sunday because you have ugly carpet where you wish you had hardwood floors. Don’t miss out on building great friendships with other people because you feel your house doesn’t measure up to theirs. Don’t do it! Invite them over….cook something simple….maybe even start with a game night or a dessert fellowship. Just do it!
Over the years, I can’t count how many people have trudged all through my house. We’ve always held a Christmas open-house event every year in whatever church we were serving. It’s so much fun! People love it. We’ve tried it all….just having people over means the world to them. I know how neat it is to be invited to someone’s house. So I try to think of how a guest would feel coming into my home. Never have I had a bad experience (well…..except that one time the deacon fell down our staircase with his coffee in hand!) while entertaining.
I love the scripture in Hebrews 13. The writer is clear about loving without limits. Our christian love should have no limits; strangers, brothers, prisoners, those suffering. We are to love as brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone to do that. I have been so blessed by having friends into my home and my prayer is that they knew it. What about you? Wanna come over for some soup? It’s my honor if you do! Come on over. I hope you’re hungry!
